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| Board of Directors | Upcoming Events | Waite Remembered | | Salmon Fry | East Branch Trails | |
Dear Westfield River Watershed members and supporters: Recent weeks have seen a number of events that are likely to impact WRWA and our Watershed during the months and years ahead. Most obviously, the change in state administration has resulted in the abrupt termination of the Massachusetts Watershed Initiative. For the past several years, that program has provided the Watershed with a "Team Leader", whose responsibilities have included coordination of the activities of state and federal agencies and local citizen's groups within the Watershed. John O'Leary, who has filled that position since Michael Parker's retirement in September, will be sorely missed by our Association. The demise of the Watershed Initiative also removes an important source of grants, making WRWA's search for outside funding more difficult as well. The state budget problems have also led to the near elimination of funding for personnel to stock salmon fry in the Westfield River and its tributaries this spring, and for monitoring of the fishway/eelway at the FiberMark site in West Springfield. The need for volunteers for both activities will be critical this year. Despite these items of bad news, there have been some positive developments as well. First, the River Restore program is in the process of completing the removal or breaching of two dams in Becket. The demise of those unused structures will open up additional habitat in the headwaters of the Westfield River for migratory fish. In addition, the Massachusetts Chapter of The Nature Conservancy has recently identified the Westfield River Watershed as its latest priority for landscape preservation (Conservation Across the Commonwealth, Winter 2003, pp 4-5). Citing the existence of several large tracts of unsegmented forest, which serve as critical habitat for many species and as a major link along migratory bird flyways, the Conservancy is in the process of preparing a strategic plan for land preservation within the Watershed. The Nature Conservancy will be one of the exhibitors at the ninth annual Westfield River Symposium, to be held this year on Saturday, March 29 at Westfield Statešs Wilson Auditorium. The action begins with registration from 8:00 to 8:30, followed by the keynote address from Richard Evans, an attorney from Northampton whose talk will focus on a variety of approaches to protecting open space. Admission is free. The program, the details of which are available at www.westfieldriver.org, includes talks and exhibits in the morning, followed by a choice of local field trips in the afternoon. I hope that many of you will join us to help make this yearšs symposium a success! I also hope that you'll find time to get out and make a tangible contribution to your Watershed this spring perhaps by spending a morning in late April or early May wading along a scenic stretch of stream stocking salmon fry! Best, Mike Young President |
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